Page 21 of The Way We Swing Back

“Nice, Gav. I’m so, so sorry.”

“It was an accident,” he said. “Grab a pen and sign this. Like, now.”

I rolled my eyes. Gavin would never hold this against me. But his parents... I wasn’t out of the crossfire yet.

Mr. Quinn finally looked at me, tapping me on the shoulder. His eyes softened, and he gave a small nod. “Follow me for a second. Berry can stay with Gavin while we talk.”

I exhaled again, longer this time. Tried to make my chest not so heavy. Tried to figure out how to explain.

We got into the hallway; the only sounds were our shoes as we walked toward a vending machine.

“I’m so sorry, Mr. Quinn. I screwed up. I never meant to hurt him.”

“Gavin told me what happened.” He sighed. “He said he was messing with you, and he tripped over a bag. I’m not mad at you.”

The guilt still sat hidden, not believing him. “But I was watching him. Supposed to keep him safe.”

“Easton,” he said, grabbing me by the shoulder and spinning me so we were eye-to-eye. “Accidents happen. You acted responsibly after it happened. You got yourselves to the hospital, and you called me. That’s what matters. I know you’d never hurt Gavin. If anything, I should be apologizing to you.”

I scrunched my face, trying to read his eyes. “Wait. Why?”

“I freaked out when you told me Gavin needed to go to the hospital. I yelled at you. I shouldn’t have when you were doing everything right. Sometimes, though, parents overreact when they think their child is in danger. That’s what happened. And I’m sorry for it.”

This was wrong, him apologizing when I’d screwed up. "But—"”

“Seriously, stop,” he said. “It was an accident.”

“Are we good then?” I had to know. And I’d try to believe his answer.

“Yes, Easton. Everything is fine. Now I’m going to call my wife and let her know she can stop freaking out, too. Why don’t you text Tanner and let him know Gavin is okay?”

I smiled for the first time since the injury. Gavin would be back in no time, ready to play catch with me whenever I could throw a ball again. Maybe they’d change their mind someday, but I wasn’t kicked out of their lives yet.

“But, Easton?”

“Yeah?”

“While he’s in the cast, you’re going to help Gavin with everything he can’t do,” he said.

“Deal,” I beamed, having already planned on it.

Chapter 10

“White Christmas” played over the speakers in the living room; Tanner had made a playlist of Christmas songs for the night. Mr. and Mrs. Quinn sat in their chairs, Mrs. Quinn with a cup of hot chocolate instead of her usual cup of tea. The chocolaty aroma drifted in the air.

My half-filled cup sat on the floor in front of me. My lip still burned from taking a sip too soon; the mini marshmallows on top had been too tempting to let swim in the drink.

I was just happy to still be allowed in the house. I glanced at Mrs. Quinn, still waiting for her to change her mind about how I’d handled the whole Gavin-wrist thing.

Gavin sat next to me on the couch, wearing pajama pants covered in Rudolph’s face and a Santa hat; a bell jingled every time he moved his head. His cast, filled with dozens of signatures, still clung to his wrist. He’d made me sign it three times. He hadn’t explained why, only said I had to, and I was pretty sure I’d never say no to him again.

We were setting up a second game of Ticket to Ride on the table in front of us, my victorious blue trains stacked in neat piles of five. Calvin had joined Tanner for the last couple of days of Christmas break since Tanner wanted to stay at his family home for the holidays. I tried to stay in my lane, leaving whenever I was alone in a room with the two of them.

“I would’ve won if you didn’t keep blocking my routes,” Gavin said as he stood up then sat back on his feet.

“Stop staring daggers at where you want to go, and I won’t be able to block you on every turn.”

“Yeah, dude, that’s like calling for a fastball and telling the batter what’s coming; it’s never gonna work,” Jake said. He had joined us for the night since his mom had picked up one last shift before Christmas morning.